


Every Secret Must Have It's Day

by RandomReader13



Series: Padfoot [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Family Drama (Harry Potter), Black Family Feels (Harry Potter), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Regulus Black Deserves Better, Regulus Black is Smart as Hell and Sirius Really Should Have Seen This Coming, Sirius Black as Padfoot, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, complicated family dynamics, just two boys struggling to understand each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomReader13/pseuds/RandomReader13
Summary: If his brother didn't want people to learn his secret, he should really get better at acting like a dog.
Relationships: Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black & Walburga Black
Series: Padfoot [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060997
Comments: 3
Kudos: 105





	Every Secret Must Have It's Day

**Author's Note:**

> How many titles can I relate to dog quotes challenge

The dog kept coming back. Regulus hadn’t seen Uncle Cygnus or any other member of his family at Hogwarts, and his subtle questions in his letters home hadn’t revealed anything either. It was bizarre, and more than a little concerning, once Regulus hadn’t been able to keep his worries locked away anymore. It could be something dangerous. It could be an enchanted dog spying on him or even an animagus.

But who would bother spying on him? He wasn’t really anyone important. Not to mention the resemblance to the Black dogs was impeccable, and that required a lot of time spent with them. Maybe this was how Uncle Cygnus matched dogs to their masters? Maybe this dog was going to be Regulus’ in a few years?

Sirius hadn’t mentioned anything about a dog following him around, even though he was way closer to his seventeenth birthday than Regulus. Then again, Sirius hadn’t been saying much of anything to him since the incident with the leg-locking jinx. He hadn’t been targeting him either, like Regulus had feared, he just seemed to...disappear whenever Regulus caught sight of him. It was clear that Sirius was avoiding him, and Regulus didn’t know if he was just avoiding his Slytherin brother or if he was feeling guilty. Sirius had never been the best at apologizing. Regulus tried to convince himself that it was just because he was a Slytherin, not out of any brotherly feelings of guilt, because it was easier to be proved right with this belief than to be proved wrong with the other.

Regulus sighed and scratched the dog behind the ears. “I’m being ridiculous,” he informed his furry companion. Regulus had been spending more and more time outside, in the shady spot on the far end of the Great Lake where the dog had found him the first day. It was just because it was a good study spot, he told himself, but he couldn’t stop the anxious flutter in his stomach as he craned his neck around the grounds on the second day, wondering if the dog would come back. He couldn’t stop the heavy rock of disappointment from dropping into his stomach when no black shape came charging towards him, and he couldn’t stop himself from jumping to his feet and laughing with delight on the third day, when the dog came back. So, yes, he was definitely being ridiculous. It was just...a relief to not have to double-guess everything he said. He had _friends_ , sure, but there was always the underlying thought that none of them could share anything truly personal for fear of it being used against them. That was just how friendships worked, but Regulus didn’t have to worry about it with a dog.

“You must have a master somewhere,” he told his companion, absently folding his ears over and watching them spring back up.

The dog seemed to sniff, tilting his nose into the air in a gesture Regulus would have called haughty on a human.

“You smell something?” he asked, looking around. The dog’s visits were impossible to predict. Some days he stayed for hours and they ran around the grounds before collapsing into the grass. Regulus would do his homework while the dog pressed close into his side. One time Regulus balanced his inkwell between those pointy ears, just to see what would happen. The dog had remained still as a statue, eyes closed in the sun and tail wagging lazily, until something caught his attention and he gently tipped the inkwell into Regulus’ lap. Fortunately the anti-spill charms had held up. Other days he only stayed for fifteen or twenty minutes before dashing off, and no amount of snuck food or petting could keep him.

Today was one of his long visits, and Regulus’ hair was thoroughly windswept from chasing the dog. The stupid thing had somehow snuck his wand out of his robes and paused just long enough for Regulus to see it in his mouth before dashing off. Regulus had been worried about the state of his wand, but once he had tripped over a stone and fallen headlong, the dog had returned and delicately placed the wand in front of him. There hadn’t been a single tooth mark. Regulus had still refused to pet him for half an hour, despite the dog’s efforts at playfulness and apologetic licks at his fingers. He had eventually caved though.

“You’re impossible to stay mad at, you know that?” Regulus said. “You’re like my brother.” The dog’s head perked up. “Such a charming git that even Mother can’t stay cross with him for long.”

The dog let out a remarkably human-sounding snort, and Regulus paused for a moment, eyeing the back of his head. Sirius had gone through an animagus phase a couple years ago (“Reg! I can’t find anything in this bloody library, help me look, yeah? Come on, you’re not doing anything important. Your homework can wait an hour, you’re not going to flunk anything, now come _on!_ ”) so Regulus knew that animagi retained their human intelligence and mind while in animal form. Sometimes this dog acted so human, the idea of it being an animagus seemed less ridiculous.

Regulus froze, fingers tightening unconsciously around the dog’s fur. Sirius had gone through an animagus phase. The dog acted very human. It was a Black dog, the ancestral companion of the Black family. It started coming around him right as Sirius started avoiding him, either out of anger or — what was becoming startlingly more likely — guilt. The dog turned to look at him, head tilted at an angle that was as familiar to Regulus as his own reflection.

“Holy shit!”

He jumped to his feet, staring down at the dog, who was looking at him warily. Regulus’ mind was racing. It couldn’t be. But it was the only thing that made sense. Sirius would never want to...to play with him and run around like they had when they were little. But Regulus did, so...maybe Sirius did too? There was no way Sirius could have become an animagus without the guidance of a teacher and the ministry. But his brother had always been magically powerful and too smart for his own good.

The dog — Sirius?? — was standing now. He pawed at Regulus’ leg, head still tilted in inquiry. Regulus felt a hysterical laugh work it’s way up his throat. He opened his mouth to demand what the hell Sirius was doing, but paused. Sirius hadn’t told him. Sirius clearly didn’t want him to know. Regulus wasn’t sure how Sirius would react if he realized Regulus knew.

Regulus tugged at his sleeves and said, “I just remembered I was supposed to turn in an essay this morning.” He looked towards the castle. The anxiety he was feeling was easy enough to project onto a fictional essay, while he frantically thought through his options. He couldn’t deny the hurt, that Sirius had kept this big of a secret from him. But why would Siriuis take the chance of showing himself to Regulus? Regulus was smart, and he knew Sirius better than anybody (At least he thought he did, a voice whispered in the back of his head, until his brother raised a wand against him. Maybe Potter had replaced him in that too.), Sirius must have known it would be a risk coming to him. Maybe Sirius just...missed him? Was that stupid? Father said he was too sentimental, when he caught Regulus crying after Sirius left for his first year at Hogwarts. But Regulus had seen the way Father looked at the family portrait when he thought no one was looking. And if he and Father were too sentimental, then Sirius certainly must be. He was always terrible at managing his emotions, it was about the only thing Regulus was inarguably better at.

“Merlin’s balls,” he muttered, and the dog barked in a way so similar to Sirius’ loud laugh, now that Regulus was listening for it, that he nearly looked around to find his brother. “It’s fine,” he muttered, brushing himself off. He needed to get away, he needed some space to _think._ “I’ll just bring him some crystallized pineapple and he won’t say anything.” He gathered his materials, jamming them into his bag. “I’ll see you later,” he said, patting the dog -- his brother, oh Merlin, he was petting his brother, his brother had been _licking him_ \-- and hurrying up to the castle.

* * *

He should probably tell someone, Remus mused while flipping through the Animagus Registry. If the dog _wasn’t_ Sirius, it could be something dangerous. Though Regulus wasn’t sure who would dare to attack a member of the Black family. Maybe one of the mudbloods who didn’t know any better? But the dog’s mannerisms were so _like_ Sirius. And if he was right, and the dog was Sirius, he couldn’t tell any of his professors. Sirius could get Azkaban for that, and Regulus wasn’t sure even the Black family’s massive sway could change that.

He reached the end of the short list and sighed. There were no registered animagi with appearances even close. Of course, if it wasn’t Sirius, another unregistered animagus could be _very_ dangerous.

He’d have to run some tests.

* * *

“I should give you a name,” he said out of the blue one day. The dog perked his head up. “I have to have something to call you and it doesn’t look like you belong to anybody,” he continued. He tapped his chin. “How about…” he paused for maximum effect. He had spent several hours sitting in his bed with the curtains drawn tight, working out what name Sirius would find so repulsive he would just _have_ to react. He snapped his fingers. “Snuffles!”

Snuffles whipped around to growl so fast he nearly bit Regulus' finger off.

* * *

“My brother is such a bloody git,” Regulus growled, throwing himself violently down into the chilly grass. Snuffles perked up from his lonely position under the tree, but his ears twitched downward at the words. They popped back up as he nudged Regulus’ side with his nose. “His bloody friends are the worst and he doesn’t even care,” Regulus moaned. “Look at this.” He sat up, pulling the collar of his winter robe down to reveal the unmistakable mark of a stinging hex plastered across his neck, as if he had tried to dodge and failed. It had taken a good deal of convincing to get Evan to do it and it hurt something fierce, but needs must and all.

This test was just to see how Sirius might react to a mention of Potter. It had nothing at all to do with seeing if he would be angry with him for hurting Regulus. Sirius had cast a hex of his own, after all, though Regulus knew a leg-locking jinx was nothing, especially compared with what Evan got.

Still, it warmed a part of Regulus, deep down, to see Sirius sitting with a bunch of confused second-years at dinner, angrily tearing a shepherd's pie to pieces as Potter sent him beseeching looks from down the table.

* * *

The dog was Sirius. It was hardly a question, anymore. Regulus had done test after test, and everything pointed to his brother somehow managing to become an illegal animagus at fifteen years old. Then again, his brother had always been mental. His brother had _also_ always been allergic to subtlety. He was going to get caught eventually, and Regulus couldn’t bear the thought of his brother in Azkaban, surrounded by -- he shuddered -- Dementors. So he did what any reasonable person in his situation would.

He told his mother.

“You’re sure of this?” Mother asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Absolutely,” Regulus nodded.

She folded her arms, wand held absently in her right hand. She had been inspecting the family wards, wand tracing slowly from one family member on the tapestry to the next. Regulus had waited ten minutes before she paused and turned to him. “What are your proofs?”

Regulus recounted the past few months, the tests he had done, as thorough a description of the dog as he could provide, and the endless matches between the dog and Sirius.

Mother frowned. “Idiot boy,” she muttered, in that specific tone she always used for Sirius. “Is he trying to get himself thrown in Azkaban?”

“That’s why I told you,” Regulus said quietly. It had taken some time to screw up the nerve. Regulus knew Sirius would be absolutely furious with him. Sirius had always scared him a little, and that fear had grown with the leg-locking jinx, even when Regulus knew Sirius got mad at his friend for supposedly hexing him. Regulus was short and skinny, never seeming to hit the growth spurts that had sent Sirius shooting up like a weed and made Mother wrestle him into constant shopping trips for new robes. Sirius was fully capable of...hurting him, even without magic. And after spilling a secret like this...he might just be mad enough to do it.

Mother surveyed him for a moment and Regulus straightened. He was never quite sure what his mother was thinking. Father, he could understand. He was told they were very much alike, and that made it easy, but if anyone was similar to Mother it was Sirius. What if she was angry with him for telling? Orion had always appreciated Regulus’ warnings, but sometimes Mother gave him a look that made Regulus feel small and awful for tattling. But this was important, Sirius could get hurt, badly. Wasn’t that a good enough reason?

“You did the right thing, telling me,” she said, and Regulus sagged a little before catching himself and nodding. Mother and Sirius might argue, but Mother would make sure he was safe. Sirius wouldn’t be going to Azkaban on her watch. The only question was if Regulus would survive long enough to enjoy his brother’s freedom.

“Don’t mention this to your brother,” Mother continued, turning back to the tapestry.

Regulus blinked. “Mother?”

“I need to talk to your father,” she said. “We will inform you when we make a decision. Until then,” she fixed him with a gimlet stare, “continue on as you have been.”

Regulus nodded slowly, relief welling in his chest. He had thought she would storm off and confront Sirius immediately, maybe even dragging him along with her. Waiting and forming a plan was more Father’s realm, although, he remembered as Mother resumed her warding, she was a Slytherin too. “Yes, Mother,” he said softly, turning to head upstairs. Sirius had holed himself up in his room as soon as they arrived home for Christmas break, but maybe he could be lured out with a game of chess or exploding snap. Regulus wanted to enjoy his brother’s company while he could.


End file.
